Fog of War is a slice of life, romance visual novel. 
So far the prologue and chapter one are available. Book one will cover the prologue through chapter 4. 

You can purchase it here. 

https://story-machine-studios.itch.io/fog-of-war

Currently 1950+ renders
12 animations
20k words. 

Update cycles 3-4 months per chapter.

plot synopsis:
Rex Richards, born with an eidetic memory and a natural born soldier becomes the youngest to ever make Delta Force. Aka "The Unit". After feeling like he is losing his humanity, and having a crisis of identity on the battlefield he retires. Rex uses his sciences degree he obtained while serving to attend  R. Winters Medical University, where he tries to escape his clandestine operator past. Will Rex find solace on his new chosen path or become the monster he fears? Sometimes walking away does not mean you escape without a fight. Old and new romances alike prove to challenge him. Shape his future with your choices.

Dev Log #2

Chapter two is now in full flight. I am currently building environments and posing renders. My typical goal is 100 renders  a week.  This chapter will be more animation rich.  I have worked on some techniques to improve this next chapter visually. This next chapter will provide options for some of the hangouts/dates. Now that you have a taste for the different characters. I am on the hunt to upgrade my GPU but I refuse to be hosed by scalpers. I am hoping the end of the year I can have 2 rigs. One to render and one to pose. This should help increase render outputs. 

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Dev Log#3

Chapter 2 has started off strong. The 100 renders per week goal will be reached. I upgraded some software to make coding a little easier. I have also been building/kit bashing some new environments and several scenes are already in the code.  I would have to say assets hunting is the least enjoyable task in game development. hours can be spent with little results. 

This chapter has a very cool cameo that I am very excited for people to see. I believe any cameos should be written in a way that progresses the story. Makes them more relatable and memorable. 

If you want to come by the QnA tomorrow. Join the Discord! 

https://discord.gg/SEmQRrFuxg

Chapter 2 is going very well so far. I think you all will notice a huge jump in render quality. This chapter will have more player agency. You will control more of the content you see. Whether it be friendly, romantic or even negative interactions with the girls. 

Things to keep in mind.

-You will lock in around chapter 7-8 with your girl. 

-There is a character that could have an earlier lock in.

-You can focus solely one girl regardless.

-Every girl has her own story arc. Whether they are friendly or romantic is up to you.

Maintaining relationships with other characters is also important. The way you treat them will play into future situations.

Development is going strong. I would like to touch on the topic of music. I think it is a very important layer of the presentation and overall feeling of the game. This will be fluid. Music for adult games can be very tough to obtain. I will be changing older and adding more music as time goes on and more options become available.

Typically my workflow is setting up the renders. Plugging them into the code after post with dialog. Adding the music and than playing the scene. After this I flesh out the details. Changing or adding dialog, as well as renders to make it flow better. I will probably test a scene 30 plus times. I still miss things. Oops. Thank god for testers. 

220 renders so far.

Hoping to hit 700 renders by months end. 

Things are rolling fairly smoothly. Got a lot done this week. Writing is about 50 percent done. We are averaging about 100 renders per week. I have also started overhauling some of the music. This is not a priority. It is more or less when I come across a track that will work in older scenes while I am looking for music for the current chapter. 

I myself typically will put all the dialog into the code once it's written. Make the renders plug them in. So when you see render counts those are typically in the game ready to go. With the more player agency this chapter brings I have to be careful to have enough to content to be satisfying if for players who may not exploring multiple paths. 

Fog of War is a "novel" with a built in dating simulator. So the story also takes a lot emphasis. I want people to enjoy that as much as they enjoy the girls. I also want players to enjoy the girls even if they are not a chosen a love interest. This important as each girl has her own arc in the story you will explore. 

Kristyn is where this is a challenge. It seems there are large amounts of players that both empathize  with her reasoning and dislike Kristyn for leaving MC. The goal of making those players those who don't understand will be challenging. Also you can never satisfy everyone so you hope to win more than you lose. I also tell people to remember how emotionally charged that moment was. People are not flawless, we make mistakes in moments of high emotion. 

Fog of War is written when you initially gain the respect of those you meet. Don't confuse this as they are immediately attracted to MC.  There is a lot under the surface you have not seen.  As the story progresses you will be tasked with continuing to earn the trust and build--Or erode the trust. Render count is 326. 

Chapter 2 has been released! 

https://story-machine-studios.itch.io/fog-of-war

1200 renders added

12 animations added

35k words

Fog of War follows an ex Delta Force veteran who is now attending medical school in an attempt to find new purpose outside of the battlefield. Born with an eidetic memory, Rex Richards (or whatever name you choose) must navigate possible new and old romances, while he wrestles with his operator past and strives to help those around them fight their own battles.

Fog of War takes place in Northern California in the fictional city of New Techne. A bustling pre cyberpunk city pushing the boundaries of technology.

If you like romance and story rich VNs. Fog of War is for you. While you earn the respect and admiration of those around you, you must maintain those relationships. Can you walk the fine line of violence and pacifism to protect those around you? Or do you submit completely to the precise and professional killer you we're trained to be?